Heavy-duty tie plate and light rail adapter therefor



Jan. 29, 1952 ENCER 2,583,610

L. SP HEAVY-DUTY TIE PLATE AND LIGHT RAIL ADAPTER THEREFOR Filed 001;. 21, 1948 4 ]:q11m:: 1 u i 25 Im/enmr ,0 A I, Lee Spencer Patented Jan. 29, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HEAVY-DUTY PLATE AND LIGHT RAIL ADAPTER THEREFGR Lee Spencer, PhoeniaAriz. Application October 21, 1948', Serial No. 55,726 10 Claims; (01., 238--28-7') This invention relates to certain new anduseful improvements in railway'track constructions and; more particularly, has to do with a tried and" workable method and means whereby a standard: trackway, already in use and. currently embody-- ing light duty rails and correspcndinglylight duty tie-plates, may be readily and economically altered and converted or changed over, at all times using standard equipment, to a trackway embodying heavy duty tie-plates and correspondingly heavy dutyrails.

It is a matter of common knowledge: that almost all of the leading railroads have: programs, as of now, which call for the removal of bothlight duty rails and light duty tie-plates sometime in the predictable future and replacement of' same with much heavier and larger rails and tie-plates which may be conveniently calledstandard A. R. E. A. heavy duty types. These heavy duty tie-plates; virtually alrinstances; are A. R. E. A. standard double shouldered types manufactured to accommodate and accurately fit a heavy duty broad based rail. The problem re quiring practical solution is how best to meet the many conditions so that the change over from light to heavy equipment" may be resultfully achieved, keeping in steel' shortages; err-- penditures in: money; time and labor-factors and countless other contingencies.

In acceptable railway track constructions; standard rails are, in general, supported on tieplates of steel in order to distribute the weight and attending wheel loads over more area of wood and thus to protect the ties from the dam-- age that results when only the base of the rail itself rests directlyon the tie;

For a great many years, tie-plates were made with only one shoulder to contact the rail base on the outside: and to check outward: thrusts of the Wheels but of late years, they have been made with a shoulder on each side ot the rail base flange to. thus help-retain the rail in proper position and relieve the spikes on. the inner edge from cutting away and lettingthe rail loosen. up.

With the stated single shoulder plate in use, it was no problem to provide ways and means of fitting rails having bases of diiferent widths, since the base contacted, shoulder and it was just a case of punchingholes in the tie-plate at the proper point on the other or inner side in order to accommodate any and all sizes ofrails'. With 1; 'e double shoulder plate, of course, these plates are made to accommodate one size of rail base and that-is where my invention becomes significant.

as explained, the single As already stated and manifestly, theincreased sizes of equipment andiweights coupled with increased speeds, is causing terrific abuse of: the wooden ties, and the currently used small tieplates of" inadequate area, because of the loads and impacts; are sinking into the ties andtoreingtheir removal long before any signs of decay are evident, and the only acceptable remedy, before my inventionhas: been to" install a rail of much greater weight and sizewith, of course, a correspondinglysized tie-plate to distribute thev load over a larger woodsurface;

Confronted with the foregoing andthe many attending di'fiiculties, I have evolved and perfected, I believe, a practicable procedural method" of track. alterationwhereby the currently used light duty tie-plates may be taken out and replaced-g, as of now, with heavy duty tie-plate. Secondly, my method involves replacingthe momentari-ly removed light dutyrailson and again fastening same to the heavy duty tie-plates, However, and in order to adequately and satisfactorily achieve this endmy invention invokes the use of adaptors which are expressly designed and made to conformingly coactwith thestand ard: heavy duty tie-plates and the present light duty rail, the adapter means being of a com-- pensating' character and functioning to maintain a common gauge-point'for the heads of both light duty and heavy duty rails. Said adapter means paves the way for subsequent and permanent removal of a light duty rail and'replacement of same with a heavy: duty rail at which stage? the adapter" means is also removed and: the heavy duty rail permanently installed. From the time of installation, however, the heavy duty tie-plates are not touched; inasmuch as they are accurately set at the date of original installation and. are therefore ready for reception of the heavy duty Fundamentally and basically, what I contem plate is universal adoption and use-0f larger track rails and correspondingly larger tie-plates, thetrack rails, adapter means being associatedwith.

said tie-plates. in order to permit the presently used smaller track". rails; to remain in the track: until such time as replacement becomes necessary'or essential.

by adopting and using thelarger type tieadapted to be precision set and permanently fastened on the cross-tie, said tie-plate being of a conventional standard type and embodying a substantially rectangular plate or body portion with flat top and bottom surfaces, the top surface being provided, as usual, with a pair of upstanding spaced parallel vertical ribs, the inner opposed surfaces of said ribs then serving to provide uninterrupted or continuous shoulof the details, and, taking a general glance at the several figures in the drawings, it will be seen that the structure has to do with the combined functioning of a standard wooden cross-tie, a permanently usable pre-gauged oversized or heavy duty tie-plate superimposed at a predetermined spot on an end portion of the cross-tie. the tie-plate being of conventional type and embodying a substantially rectangular plate porders which are adapted, under predetermined circumstances, to directly contact the marginal edges of the base flange of a heavy duty conventional-type track rail, the horizontal bed portion of said plate between said shoulders being substantially imperforate and solid to provide a satisfactory seat or chair for the adapter plate, the end portions of the tie-plate being provided with regulation spike holes and there being additional spike holes in registry with the shoulders on the tie-plate, whereby to permit conventional railroad spikes to be employed in spiking down the tie-plate and leaving it stay in position until the change over is made. The innermost spikes may be temporarily pulled but the outermost spikes will remain in position so that the established position of the tie-plate will not be shifted or tampered with. It is novel, I believe to use an oversized tie-plate having such facilities and particularly the seating space between the primary or main shoulders which contact the edges of the larger base flange. It is also novel to put an adapter unit, particularly one of the type herein shown, in the space between the shoulders, said adapter being a frame with upstanding longitudinal ribs, there being a pair of such ribs and these being parallel. The ribs provide auxiliary shoulders and provide the necessary seating space between themselves for the narrow base flange on the light duty rail and are polygonal in cross-section and the rib on one side generally is of greater cross-section than therrib on the other side in order to fix the relationship of the light duty rail to the cross-tie, tie-plate and adapter to maintain the light duty rail in the required position and to do the same thing, that is, maintain and establish the position of the heavy duty rail when the latter rail is put in and the light duty rail and adapter unit are both taken out.

Other objects, features and advantages will become more readily apparent from the following description and the accompanying illustrative drawings;

Figure 1 is a fragmentary perspective view showing a standard wooden-cross-tie,standard double shouldered tie-plate of the heavy duty size, light duty standard rail and my improved light rail adapter which makes the aforementioned track alteration and change over practicable.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary View, in section and elevation, taken on the plane of the line 2--2 of Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the adapter unit per se; and,

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken on the plane of the line 4-4 of Figure 3, looking in the direction of the arrows.

By way of brief introduction to the description tion with fiat top and bottom surfaces and, in addition, being provided on the top surface with a pair of upstanding spaced parallel ribs. The inner vertical faces of the ribs serve to provide substantially uninterrupted shoulders which are adapted, under predetermined circumstances, to directly contact the marginal edge portion of the base flange of a heavy duty conventional type track rail. The outer transverse end portions of the tie-plate have regulation spike holes punched therein and adapted to accommodate conventional tie-plate hold down spikes. The adapter unit is, specifically, a frame type structure and it too is substantially rectangular in form and includes longitudinally spaced parallel frame members which are seated immediately or directly upon the bed or foundation portion of the tie-plate between the shoulders in direct contact with the inner surfaces of said shoulders and constituting temporarily unable auxiliary shoulders. Thus, the permanent shoulders are on the tie-plate and the auxiliary shoulders are insertable andremovable. The adapter also includes transverse end members and these serve to connect the respective end portions of the longitudinal members and they, in practice, are in direct contact with corresponding longitudinal edge portions of the tie-plate. What is more, they lie in a plane to properly bear against the tie-plate and to assist in guarding against accidental longitudinal slippage of the adapter frame in relation to the tie-plate. The tie-plate has additional spike holes and the additional spike holes serve to accommodate rail fastening spikes and these holes include notches in the fixed tie-plate shoulders the notches having their inner open sides closed by the coacting bridging portions of the longitudinal frame members, rail hold down spikes being driven through the last named spike holes and into the cross-tie and having their heads arranged to overlie the longitudinal members and the adjacent edge portions of the base flange of the coacting track rail, be it (A) the heavy duty rail or (B) the light duty rail.

Referring now to the drawings by reference numerals and lead lines the conventional wooden cross-tie is denoted by the numeral 6. The heavyduty tie-plate, whichin practice is adapted to replace the light duty tie-plate (not shown) is denoted by the numeral 1 and, as is obvious, is of standard construction. Here we see the tie plate of general rectangular form and embodying transverse end portions 8 and 9 and an adjoining central body portion provided with upstanding ribs forming permanent or fixed rail retaining shoulders 10 and H. That portion between said shoulders constitutes a foundational bed 12 for the base flange l3 of a conventional light duty rail M. The rail also includes the usual web l5 and ball or head It. In the present disclosure it will be noted that the base flange l3 sits in direct contact on the tie-plate surface l2. Referring to Figure 2 and the dotted line illustrations the numeral l1 designates a heavy duty standard type: rail including: a basafiange l8 and web: 1'9 and ball or headZ-fll The: transverse end portions of the tie-plate have spike holes 2!. to: accommodate tie-plate hold down. spikes: 22, these beingjconventional. The body portion of the tie-plate is. provided. with inner holes. 23 and these accommodate conventional type rail hold down spikes 24. I call at, tention to the fact the plate I is standardiin every respect. according topresent day railroad: requirements and that the tie-plate 1 once" it is fastened down with. the spikes: 22;. stays in place. ilpi kes 24: are removable and these: are removed on one: side orend: when it is necessary to take out the light duty railand the adaptedameans and to permanently install the. heavy duty rail, said rails: denoted respectively by the numerals II and H in FigureZ. Itiis. alsosig-nificant thattthe distance between the shoulders HI and Mr is precisely such as; to accommodate the width of the base flange E3 of. the heavyduty' rail. l"!-.. When the light; duty rail is in place" it is' necessary to employ the: aforementioned adapter unit. The preferred emhodimentofthi's: unit, denoted? by the numeral 25 in Figure 3, is thatlcf arectangular open-type frame: The longitudinal frame members are denoted by the numerals 25 and 21. andthey are of lengths greater than the. width of the tie-plate and have their endportions extending beyond the ends of the shoulders I and H' where they are welded: to the transverse cross-members 28 and: 2.9 The end portions 30 project beyond the corresponding ends of: the longitudinal members and Zll The end members 28* and 29 are on a plane below the members 26'. and 21- and serve as shoulders and rest against the longitudinal edge portions of the tie plate as" illustrated in the drawings, particularly to advantage in Figures 1 and It will be noted in Figures 2 and 3 that the member ZlB-isrectanguIaT in cross-section and is of greater cross sectional dimension than the cross sectional dimension of the narrower or small-er member 21. Thetie pl'at'e when accommodating a heavy duty rail, must maintain a constant gauge ol 4" 8% and, by the same token, precisely the same gauge must be maintained between the. light duty rail used in conjunction with the heavy duty plate and insertabl'e adapter unit. The latter, when usedin pairs; are referred to as insertable and removable units because they serve to position and hold rails of various cross sectional dimensions to one fixed point at the'head, and in this way, regardless of the various cross sectional dimensions, the two rails-will always be in perfect gauge for and to correctly guide the usual car wheel flanges,

It is a significant aspect of the invention to keep in mind that I provide novel means, by the use of generally varying dimensional fillers or abutments, the stated adapter members 26 and 2-1:, whereby a rail, regardless of its head or its base widths and cross sections will beso held in position. with its opposite ormate rail that a constant uniform distance will be maintained between these two rails in relation: to each other. It. is highly important tokeep' in. mind that my invention definitely establishes and holds the gauge: oriwheel side of the: rail heads atone common: point. regardless of whether: the rails are in the so-called ('A) light duty or (B) heavy duty classification.

The members 26 and 2'! may be referred to, properly I. believe, as auxiliary shoulders. as. filler members, and alsoas adapters.

I believe that his appropriate for me to. mention herethat I. amconversant with the. state; of the art to which the invention. relates and; considering the many prior patents germane to: the field of invention under advisement, there isv a constant tendency of inventors, in an effort to malteadvancements, to depart from. the use of standard equipment, that is eiquipment which is accepted as standard by the authorities and because of this very fact many inventions which might otherwise. prove to be valuabl are discarded inasmuch as large railroads find it impossible to adopt new ideas involving radical departures from already accepted and standardized practices. I stress, therefore, the fact that the instant invention involves structure which stays as close as possible to already accepted practices and yet constitutes a definite contribution at this day and time. Normally, if it had not been for great; demands on steel, and shortages in steel. and if the railroad companies had received their proportionate shares, a program such as I'. am herein embarking on may not have been. at all necessary. The fact remains, however, that there do exist recognized steel shortages and it will be years and years before the condition is normalized and when one takes this into account the significance of my novel changeover program becomes evident and susceptible of current endorsement.

Conservation of timber resources is of great importance and it is submitted that no better contribution can be offered than that I present as it extends the life of ties which are now in track and already bought and paid for. Most P railroad men agree too that my plan develops a much more stable and stronger track structure than available at present, that it will greatly conserve steel and extend the service life of the old lighter rail too. These factors, added to reductions in man hours, involve great savings of time and money during these years of shortages.

The prime appeal to railroad men seems to stem from the fact they need not change their standards in any way under my plan. Instead, they merely stage and time installation steps to cope with the laws of supply and demand. My novel system and adaptor allows these accepted A. R. E. A. standards to be followed and placed in. service systematically and to the best advantage of all hands concerned. When heavy rail becomes a necessity for any reason, the mere removal of this adaptor makes the construction revert instantly to standard track as origi nally programmed; The adaptor is used as an acceptable means and sets the stage, so to speak, to bring about, timely, of course, the final result, a heavy duty track.

Experimental tests now in track in many places confirm the results of my practices and what can. be accomplished using standard A. R. E. A. approved materials. Failure to stay in. bounds and build around: or fully use standards: approved by then. R. E. A, has been the cause of failure in most track inventions, as they took no advantage or attempted to use these approved standards and it can be readily understood why, when. the billions of these items in track are considered; refusal. of adoption of out of line inventions is almost certain. Standards acquired and approved by recognized authorities and by experience covering the history of railroading, cannot be lightly ignored. My inventive concept utilizes. and relies almost entirely on these standards; hence, its. adaptability and practicability, as proved; by experimental. service.

Changes in shape, size, materials and equivalent nominal variations may have to be resorted to, in actual practice, with no intent to depart from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the sub-joined claims.

Having described the claimed as new is:

1. In a railway track construction, in combination, a cross-tie, a pre-gauged standard-type tieplate superimposed at a predetermined place on the surface of said cross-tie, said tie-plate being of a heavy duty size and of conventional construction and embodying a substantially rectangular plate having a fiat top surface and a flat bottom surface, the top surface embodying, as usual, a pair of upstanding spaced parallel ribs, the vertical inner faces of said ribs serving to provide substantially uninterrupted shoulders which are adapted to bear against coacting marginal edges of the base flange of a heavy duty conventional-type track rail, the respective outer transverse end portions of said tie-plate having pairs of regulation spike holes punched therein and adapted to accommodate the conventional type tie-plate hold down spikes, hold down spikes passing downwardly through said spike holes and into said cross-tie and securing the latter to the cross-tie, a standard light duty track rail seated directly on the bed portion of the tie-plate between said shoulders, the longitudinal edges of the base flange of said light duty rail bein spaced from said shoulders,'removable adapter means, said adapter means being a substantially rectangular loop-type frame, said frame including longitudinal spaced parallel filler members, and offset means connecting said filler members to maintain fixed spaced parallel relationship between said members, each filler member being of continuous onepiece solid form from end-to-end, said filler members completely filling the spaces between said shoulders and the coacting longitudinal edge portions of the base flange of said light duty rail, each filler member being of a length greater than the length of the coacting shoulder, said filler members being polygonal in cross-section, whereby to locate and establish the position of said rail for a prescribed track gauge requirement, the shouldered portion of said tie-plate being provided, at each shoulder location, with additional conventional spike holes, and conventional rail hold down spikes passing downwardly through said additional spike holes, the heads of said spikes bridging over said filler members and being engageable with the base flange of the rail in the usual manner to fasten the rail to the tie-plate, and the filler members to the tie-plate.

' 2. The structure specified in claim 1, said filler members constituting temporarily usable inner and outer auxiliary shoulders for said rail base flange, being rectangular in cross section, the cross'section of the inner auxiliary shoulder being appreciably less than that of the complemental outer auxiliary shoulder.

3. The structure specified in claim 1, said filler members constituting temporarily usable auxiliary shoulders for said rail base flange, being rectangular in cross section, transverse members connecting the opposite ends of said filler members, said transverse members abutting the longitudinal edge portions of the tie-plate, and being on a plane below the auxiliary shoulders flush with the fiat top surfaces of said tie-plate and serving to prevent slipping of the filler members in relation to the tie-plate.

invention, what is 4. The structure specified in claim 1, said filler members constituting temporarily usable auxiliary shoulders for said rail base flange, and being rectangular in cross section.

5. In a structure of the class shown and described, a permanently usable pre-gauged oversized tie-plate adapted to be attached to a standard type Wooden cross tie, said tie-plate being of conventional type and embodying a substantially rectangular plate having fiat top and bottom surfaces, the top surface embodying a pair of upstanding spaced parallel ribs, the inner vertical faces of said ribs serving to provide substantially uninterrupted shoulders which are adapted, under predetermined circumstances, to directly contact the marginal edges of the base flange of a heavy duty conventional type track rail, the outer transverse end portions of said tie-plate having pairs of regulation spikes holes punched therein adapted to accommodate conventional tie-plate hold down spikes, the portion of said tie-plate between said shoulders also being adapted to accommodate, not only the stated heavy duty track rail but, in addition, a standard light duty track rail, readily applicable and removable adapter means, said adapter means being a substantially rectangular open type frame including longitudinal spaced parallel members, said members being of a cross section to firmly rest against the inner faces of said shoulders and also functioning as auxiliary shoulders when the light duty track rail is seated on said tie-plate, and further including transverse members connecting the first named members, said transverse members being situated on a plane below the first named members with their upward surfaces fiush with the top surface of said tie-plate, and being in direct abutting contact with the longitudinal edge portions of said tie-plate to prevent shifting of the adapter means in relation to the tie-plate.

6. The structure specified in claim 5, said first named members being of differing cross sections, the cross section of the inner member being considerably less than the cross section of the outer member.

7. The structure specified in claim 5, said tieplate having additional pairs of spike holes to accommodate the rail fastening spikes, said last named holes being in alignment with and passing through the shoulders so that the fastening spikes may be used in a manner to fasten the base flange of the rail in place and, in addition, to fasten the first named members in place on said tie-plate.

8. In a railway track construction of the class described, in combination, a standard wooden cross-tie, a permanently usable pre-gauged oversized tie-plate superimposed at a predetermined place on said cross-tie, said tie-plate being of a conventional type and embodying a substantially rectangular plate having flat top and bottom surfaces, the top surface embodying a pair of upstanding spaced parallel ribs, the inner vertical faces of said ribs serving to provide substantially uninterrupted shoulders which are adapted, under predetermined circumstances, to directly contact the marginal edges of the base flange of a heavy duty conventional type track rail, the outer transverse end portions of said plate having regulation spike holes punched therein and adapted to accommodate conventional tie-plate hold down spikes, an open frametype adapter, said adapter being substantially rectangular in form and including longitudinal spaced parallel frame members, said frame members being seated upon the portion of the tieplate between the shoulders and being in direct contact with the inner surfaces of said shoulders and constituting temporarily usable auxiliary shoulders, the adapter also including transverse members and said transverse members being on a plane beneath and connecting the respective end portions of the longitudinal members to one another and being in direct contact with corresponding longitudinal edge portions of the tieplate, and, in addition, lying in a plane below the base of said track rail and bearing against the tie-plate and to prevent accidental longitudinal slippage of the adapter frame in relation to the tie-plate, the tie-plate having additional spike holes, the additional spike holes being to accommodate rail fastening spikes and including notches formed. in said shoulders, the notches having their inner open sides closed by the coacting bridging portions of said longitudinal members, and rail fastening spikes driven through said last named spike holes and into the cross tie and having their the longitudinal members and adjacent portions of the base flange of a coacting track rail.

9. As a new article of manufacture, a light duty rail adapter for use in connection with a heavy duty tie-plate comprising a pair of longitudinal filler members adapted to abut the usual shoulders on the stated tie-plate and being of lengths greater than the lengths of said shouldersand adapted to function as auxiliary shoulders, each member being substantially rectanheads arranged to overlie gular in cross section, one member being of greater cross section than the other member, and transverse members connecting the opposite end portions of the longitudinal members in fixed relationship, said transverse members being on a plane below said longitudinal members.

10. As a new article of manufacture, a light duty rail adapter for use in connection with a heavy duty tie-plate comprising a pair of similar longitudinal filler members adapted to abut the usual shoulders on the stated tie-plate and being of lengths greater than said shoulders and adapted to function as auxiliary shoulders, each member being substantially rectangular in cross section, one member being of greater cross section than the other member, and transverse members connecting the opposite end portions of the longitudinal members connecting the opposite end portions of the first named members in fixed relationships, said transverse end members underlying the lower sides of said longitudinal members, whereby the latter reside on a plane above said transverse end members.

1 LEE SPENCER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record inthe file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,132,571 Maney Oct. 11, 1938 2,377,942 Johnson June 12, 1945 

